Gregor and the Prophecy of Loss New
by xthe beastx
Summary: All in all, one will be lost, But, it may be switched, at another’s cost. Will they be together? Or will one be lost forever. The best answer is hard to come across, But such is the way, of the prophecy of loss.
1. Chapter 1

Well, as I promised, here is my new story. Sorry for all you people who liked my original one, but this should be much better. It will follow the same basic storyline, but I may add on or take out a little bit. Without further ado…

(Beta'd by ILikeAres who rocks for helping me so much.)

Disclaimer – I do not own the Underland Chronicles or anything in them. The only things that I take credit for in this story are the prophecy, any characters I may add that are not mentioned in the books, and the storyline.

---

Gregor and the Prophecy of Loss

Prologue

Fall

The multi-colored leaves blew in small, intricate patterns in the nippy fall breeze. Gregor sat on the kitchen counter, staring vacantly out the cold glass window, watching the last few brown leaves on the trees waving, barely hanging on to their bearers. He let out a long sigh, wishing he had something to occupy himself with. Normally during the fall, he and his little sister Boots would go down their street to a vacant lot around the corner. There, other poor kids around his age would make giant leaf piles and leap into them. Since their families didn't have rakes, seeing as most of them lived in apartments and didn't have any yards, they would make use of whatever they could, grabbing an old, rusty trash can lid or a particularly thick branch to scoop the leaves into piles.

Gregor wished he could've done just that, and he knew that Boots would love it, but there was no way. After his last ordeal in a place called the Underland, where there were giant talking insects, a race of pale skinned, violet eyed people, and armies of rats that tried to kill him and many other animals, his mother never let him out of the house without her except for school and other necessities. Still, he always felt that she would watch him out the front door for as long as she could until he was gone from sight. Gregor hopped off the counter, letting out a sudden grunt of discomfort at his landing. He gently rubbed his chest near his heart, where five large indents were forever engraved into his skin. This had been the last injury he had received in the Underland, from a ferocious giant white rat called the Bane, who he had killed on his last trip down there.

"Gregor! We jump in leaves!" Boots came dashing around the corner of the hallway outside the kitchen.

"Oh, boy, she remembered," thought Gregor with a sad heart. He didn't want to break it to her that they wouldn't be able to go back to the empty lot unless their mom, Grace, went with them, which meant that they wouldn't be able to go. It wasn't that Grace didn't want to take them, it was just that she was busy working from morning to late at night every day. She had to support their family the best that she could; times were always hard, but recently, they had gotten worse. Gregor's dad was too sick to work, as he had been kidnapped by the rats in the Underland and held captive for nearly three years, and that had caused serious health problems. Over time, he had seemed to get a little better, but often he would fall back into fevers and he still had a very long road of recovery ahead of him. It seemed now that the only thing that kept the family going was Mrs. Cormaci. Mrs. Cormaci was their next door neighbor, who lived right down the hall. She had always been there for as long as Gregor could remember. She had been like a guardian angel to his family. She was always saving them from going hungry one day or having that spare jacket that used to belong to one of her daughters that just happened to be the perfect size for Gregor's other little sister, Lizzie, when they couldn't afford to get her a winter coat. She always was saving them from one disaster to the next and always made it seem like she just had what they needed lying around. Gregor couldn't help but smile as he thought of her. She was the only one outside of his family that knew about the Underland and he was glad of it.

"Gregor! We go! We go!" Boots' small pleas snapped Gregor back to reality. He knew he had to tell her that they couldn't go, but had a hard time doing it.

"Listen, Boots, I'm sorry, baby, but we can't—"

"It's okay, Gregor, I'll take her," Gregor's dad's voice interrupted from the other room. Gregor hadn't noticed that he was there, probably watching Gregor stare longingly out the window. He felt a little ashamed know that it must've made his father feel bad.

"I can take Boots to the lot. Your mother would be okay with that," he said again.

"But Dad, you shouldn't go out; you're not ready yet," Gregor began.

"It's okay, I'm feeling quite invigorated right now, and I think I should take a small walk," his dad replied Gregor could tell that was a lie. His dad never felt lively, let alone _invigorated_, but he did look like he was feeling pretty well at the moment, and Gregor had trouble bringing himself to say no to Boots.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Dad?" inquired Gregor thoughtfully. He hated the thought of his dad going somewhere with Boots without being perfectly healed of his illness—Boots was a lot of work. "Are you really sure, Dad? I mean, I don't really know about you doing this." He nervously wrung out his hands, but he knew he would have to let his father do this. Boots, anxiously waiting for her dada to take her to the lot, was jumping up and down, clapping her hands together and beaming happily.

"Of course, I've been aching to get out of the house for a while now. And some fresh air would do me good," he responded.

Gregor watched his dad as he bundled himself up, smiling as his father blew raspberries on Boot's stomach while trying to put her own coat on.

"Okay, but don't be gone too long," Gregor called worriedly after his dad as he was exiting through the door.

"Don't worry, I'll be back in about an hour," his dad replied.

Gregor couldn't help but to smile at himself; it sounded like he was the father and his dad was the child, but then again, he couldn't really think of himself as a child anymore. Not after what he had been through, the pain he often got in his chest reminded him of that.

Gregor plodded across the tiny, barren room that served as both a dining room and kitchen to return to his spot on the counter, hoping to see his dad and Boots on their way through the window.

---

Her eyes slowly cracked open upon hearing the familiar voice. She groaned and turned over pulling the soft, silken blanket over her head. The voice came again, stronger at first, but ending with a tinge of sympathy. Vikus walked up to her side and squatted next to her bed with some effort. The poor man, even though it had been almost a year since his stroke, he would never fully regain control in his body.

Luxa pulled the sheet off her head and sat up, leaning against her pillows. She didn't know what time of the day it was, but she knew she had gotten no more than five hours of sleep.

"Luxa, you are late for your morning studies, and you must hurry yourself and go to them," Vikus told her for the third time.

"Yes, Vikus, I will go and prepare myself at once," Luxa assured her grandfather, her voice a hoarse whisper, the fault of an abrupt awakening. She blinked her violet eyes to clear them, to see the room with more clarity. Her lids were heavy, bleary and tired and wanting to shut to sleep again, but Vikus quickly came sharply into focus. He looked more tired than she; just the sight of his sad, half-sagging face made Luxa want to jump right out of her bed. It wasn't like Luxa to stay asleep so long; most often she would awaken early.

"Very well, see that you hasten yourself." With that, Vikus exited the room, limping slightly on his left side.

Luxa swung her legs over her bed and stood up. She made her way through the silken curtain that led to her washroom and took off her nightgown. She entered the rock-bowl that had warm flowing water running through it and began to bathe herself. She wished to go back to bed and catch just one more hour of sleep, but she knew that was not a possibility. She would never hear the end of it from Vikus and her teacher, an old woman that seemed worse than Stellovet, Ripred, and an army of gnawers all put together. She let out a sigh, she would get more sleep if she wasn't up so long during the night, thinking. It was the only time when she had time to slow down and think, during the time when she would be sleeping, but she dreaded it. With time and nothing to occupy her mind, it wandered, and whenever it wandered, she returned to thoughts of him. She remembered telling herself after her parents had died never let her become attached to another person. Henry only reinforced this choice. She used to tell herself everyday that it would be her last, so that she would live it without fear. When Gregor came, that all changed. Something about him just seemed like he would always be there, but when he did leave, she continued telling herself that, as an emotional defense, to help keep her from becoming too close to others. Being emotionally tied with people only brought pain. She didn't know what it was about Gregor, probably everything, but she couldn't stop herself from becoming attached to him. And just like every other person she had loved, he also had to leave her. It was thoughts like this that kept her up during the night. Sometimes thoughts of him brought her comfort, but most of the time they brought regret, sadness, and on the harder nights, anger. Sometimes she wished he had never came, that she would have never met him, so that she wouldn't have to feel the pain of him being gone forever. But she knew deep down inside, she needed him in her life more than anything else. She was often up at night, lying on her back with the tears silently flowing until sleep finally brought its blissful cover over her.

Luxa snapped back to reality, as she was starting to doze in the bathtub and letting her mind wander. She hurriedly finished washing herself and preparing to face the day. Sometimes she was almost happy that her life was so busy. Since there were always things to do, she usually didn't have time to let her mind wander and think of the thoughts that she dreaded the most like how she did at night in her bed. She trudged back to her room to grabbed a pile of heavy leather scrolls sitting on a stone shelf near her unmade bed and started heading up the stairs of the palace, ready for another day of tasks to occupy her mind.

---

Well, I guess that was a bit short. Try and think of it more as an introduction than a chapter. I will post another on soon enough. Please review and tell me if you think it is better, worse or just as good/bad as the original. Thanks!By the by, I watched Pan's Labyrinth for the first time tonight, I know it's kind of random, but you guys should check it out. Personally, I loved it. Be warned though, it's in Spanish with English subtitles, it's rated R, and there is some pretty gruesome scenes and some strong language. Anywho, hope you enjoyed it, see ya!

Sincerely,

Thomas (xthe beastx)


	2. Ch 2 Sending a Message

Chapter Two

Sending a Message

The gentle evening sky gently weighed itself lightly upon the usually bustling city. It was fairly late at night, thus very few cars were out, and the streets just lay there, practically abandoned except for the taxi here or there carrying someone who had been at a bar too long to drive home. The starless sky seemed peaceful to most people, that is, most people except Gregor.

His house was in complete chaos, his mother pacing around the kitchen firing questions at Gregor while she held her chin in her hand, staring at the ground with red-rimmed eyes, puffy from the tears that came easily to the strong woman in her extraordinarily stressful life. Gregor kept answering all of her questions gently with the same answers. He hated to see her like this and tried to comfort her, but it did nothing. Lizzie lay asleep two rooms away, her dreams troubled by the arguing going on in the real world.

"And how long ago did they leave?" Grace said in broken sobs for the umpteenth time.

"Mom, listen, it's going to be all right, okay? They only left about three to four and a half hours ago, they might have just gotten lost or something," Gregor tried to reassure her, but he knew that wouldn't be the case. His dad was a very smart man; he knew how to get around New York with ease. Plus the lot was only about five or so blocks away. Even in the off chance that something like that would happen, his dad wouldn't be one of those men with too much pride to ask for directions, but that only made Gregor feel worse. Thinking about what some of the millions of people in New York would do if a sickly man with his small daughter went up asking for directions.

"Did he look well enough to go out? Especially in this weather?" Grace continued, red in the face, her eyes puffy.

"Yeah, Mom, he looked like he was having one of his better days," Gregor replied. He was now regretting ever letting his dad leave now.

"That's it, we've already called the police, I'm going out looking for them!" Grace said decisively, trying to stop the sobs.

"Mom, I won't let you go without me; it's not safe out there!" Gregor beseeched his mother.

"But we can't leave Lizzie here alone!" Grace said, her voice barely controlled.

"No, Mom, there are people out there that are dangerous. You can't just go out late at night alone. Listen, you can stay here with Lizzie, and I can go out and look for Dad and Boots. I can take care of myself, I can defend myself after all that I've learned," Gregor told her while getting to his feet.

"But you can't go! Not without me!" Grace argued.

"Well…what if we got Mrs. Cormaci to watch Lizzie so we both can go?" Gregor suggested.

"She can't watch Lizzie," Grace said, trying to regain her composure, but failing. "She went to Nebraska to visit one of her sons." She began to sob again, the frustration of being helpless consuming her.

"But we could…" Gregor's voice trailed off. He had no idea of what to do. Realization of what happened started to hit him. He had already lost his dad once before and he didn't know what to do now that it happened again. He thought of Boots. She was one of the few joys left in Gregor's life and he couldn't bear to lose her. He started to feel the desperation and hopelessness he did when he thought Boots had gone when the Swag had flooded. He tried to talk again, but couldn't find his voice. He started to break down, now he knew the pain his mom felt whenever he was in the Underland, the abysmal feeling of not knowing what was happening to them. His legs were shaking, it felt like the whole room was spinning, he slid into a chair and decided to wait it out.

Luxa lay under the silken sheets of her bed, staring at the ceiling of her room, her body and mind completely and utterly exhausted from another full day of pre-queen training. There were history lessons, learning of the past wars, rulers, and governments of Regalia. Economics were horrible, always discussing trading with multitudes of other species in the Underland which tied in with the worst part yet, keeping strong alliances and watching out for enemies. Not to mention countless scrolls that she was expected to read and memorize.

But worse yet than the activities of her day, were the moments where there were none, the moments that she dreaded more than anything else in the world. She just lay there, as the thoughts of him finally enfolded her in their icy embraces. Each thought brought back more memories of the life she wished she could still have.

Finally, sleep made its way and cradled her tear-stained face in its blissful embrace. Sleep, the one and only escape she had left. Sleep, the only thing that took the pain away, if only for a moment.

Gregor sat in an old, partially broken rocking chair in his living room. He had been sitting there for about an hour and a half, watching Grace. She had been going frantic over Boots and his dad being missing, but she was still human, and eventually pure exhaustion finally took over, leaving her asleep on the ratty couch in the corner of the room. He had been awake the whole time, just waiting for her to fall asleep. Her breathing had slowed and she hadn't moved in the past twenty minutes, so Gregor decided that it was probably safe to get up. He slowly lifted himself from the chair, stopping every couple of inches as it made its loud moaning creaks as the weakened wood protested against the pressure. He finally got to his feet and stood there for a minute, watching his mom. He hated the fact that he was going against her will and sneaking out, but he couldn't just wait in that cramped apartment waiting for the police to take forever doing something about it. He had no choice, he had to go out and look for Boots and his dad or else the family would just fall apart again.

Gregor took each step he took with great care, because the hardwood floor of the apartment had to be at least fifty years old, but it sounded more like three hundred. Every step he took sounded like a squeaking roar in his ears. He had to just keep telling himself not to be so paranoid and take another step.

After what seemed like an eternity, he had finally made his way to the front door of his apartment. He took a quick glance at his watch, which was an old little kids' type digital watch. He felt a little childish wearing it, but it was practical and it was really useful sometimes. It was 3:30 am.

"Okay, I should probably be back no later than five, just in case Mom wakes up or something," Gregor thought to himself as he stepped outside the door.

He walked over to the elevator in his apartment and pressed the button. No power, just as usual—it always seemed to be out of order at the most in opportune moments. He let out a loose sigh and started down the stairs, taking three at a time.

Even small activities like going down several flights of stairs would bring back the pain in his chest, the ache from the scars created by the ferocious, white rat from the Underland called the Bane.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, he had to take a small break to help ease the pain in his chest.

After waiting a couple minutes, he headed out the door, starting the sidewalk and heading straight for the empty lot where Boots and his dad had supposedly been last. He stayed close to the sides of buildings, trying to blend in the best he could. The last thing he wanted was for cops to see him and take him home, or even worse, for someone else to see him. There were some real weirdoes out late at night in New York City.

After sneaking around about five blocks, Gregor found himself at the lot. The normally happy place seemed quite creepy late at night. The tree branches all seemed to be reaching out to grab him, and the shadows looked pretty scary. Gregor shook himself off, muttering sarcastically, "Wow, look at me, the great warrior scared by a bunch of dead trees and piles of leaves."

Gregor spent about forty minutes thoroughly searching the area, but came up with nothing. He decided it would be best to search the streets within about three blocks. He carefully made his commute in the shadows, luckily not spotting any other people around.

Gregor exhausted his search after about another hour. checked his watch again, grimacing as he saw the time. It was 5:30 in the morning, and it was getting brighter. He decided that he had to head home. As he started on his way, however, he realized how truly tired he really was. He had been up for almost twenty-four hours and had trouble staying awake on his way home. He found himself dozing as he walked. Gregor tried to keep focused but kept losing it. Before he knew it, the warrior found himself at the entrance to Central Park. He had subconsciously headed towards the direction. Being that he was here, he felt the need to go inside, and take a look at this place, a place that he thought about often, a place that was now forbidden for him to go near, a place where he had lost one of the most important people in his life.

The rager quickly and quietly made his way through the path leading to the rock. He was still very tired and clumsy, though, and found himself tripping over bushes left and right. He finally rounded one last tree and found it looming there, the rock that separated two entirely different worlds, the rock that separated him from those he loved and cared for, the rock that brought back painful memories every time he saw it.

He sat there on the dewing grass which ended leaving wet spots on his jeans. He ignored them at just stared at it deep in thought for a while. Finally, he pulled himself up and looked around. The sun was just rising and he had to hurry home before his mom or Lizzie would wake up. He took one step and tripped over a root, falling flat on his face. He mumbled some words he would usually not say if he wasn't so tired and stressed under his breath as he got back up again, but then he looked down where he had fallen. There, dug out in the dirt, was this:

_Warrior, we have your family. If you wish to see them alive, you must head to Regalia, and from there you will receive more orders._

||// | \/ \/ / |// \/ ||// \ ||/ | ||\\ \ |||/ |// // \/ ||\ | |/\ / |\/ |||/ | |\/ / ||\\ \ ||| |//

|/ |// \/ \ ||| | |\/ / |

Uh, heh heh heh, (awkward ashamed laughs). Sorry this chapter took forever to put out, hopefully you guys can forgive me. Sorry that the tree of transmission stuff was sloppy, it's hard to type all that out.

P.S. My birthday was January 26 and ya know what would be great? Some reviews as very belated birthday gifts!!!! = )… or not, whatever.


End file.
